For immediate release
For more information, contact: John Dillon
Creativity in Action
P. O. Box 1231
Thousand Oaks, CA 91358-0231
web site: http://www.WidgetRacing.com
e-mail: media-relations@WidgetRacing.com

Strong finishes at the Susquahannock Trail (STPR) and Wild West ProRallies have helped Team LeConte's Kendall Russell (Knoxville, TN) and Widget co-driver John Dillon (Thousand Oaks, CA) to secure a third place standing in the National SCCA ProRally championship. With four events left on the calendar, the team is poised to move further up in the standings.

Due to local droughts, both events were run in dusty conditions. "We fought poor visibility during both races while managing to keep up a good average speed," related driver Russell. She added, "These were definitely races that required more than being fast; you had to drive smart."

"Despite the dust, Kendall showed her speed at STPR," noted co-driver Dillon, "and she went even quicker at Wild West."

STPR has a reputation as a car-breaker and this year was no exception. Of the 80 cars starting, only half finished. The car immediately in front of Team LeConte's Dodge Shadow crashed and rolled less than five minutes into the first stage. "The STPR roads were as fast and unforgiving as ever," recounted Russell. "Total driver concentration was a must since any 'off' could result in the end of the rally." The end of the first stage at STPR is the famous "water crossing," which can also do in unsuspecting teams. The Shadow's brakes were failing, however, so the car splashed heartily through the stream, cracking the pads. With only 15 minutes to service the car, crew chief Lincoln Woodard, assisted at the event by Roger Johnson and Andrew Miller, dove in and affected repairs as well as doing all the other servicing necessary at a tightly-scheduled event like this 18 hour long event.

Team LeConte's second car, a Triumph TR7/V8 driven by John K. Shirley with Phil Barnes in the co-driver seat, made its season debut at STPR. Their two previous STPR races showed the car in the DNF column, so finishing was important. According to Shirley, "My goal was to finish STPR without any crashes!" However, mechanical woes set in early for the Rover-powered Triumph. "We were significantly down on horsepower after the end of stage one and could only generate 3000 rpm," said the driver. "Phil and I decided to try to limp through the race and finish. It was doubtful that we would make it but somehow we did."

Because of an event schedule change, Woodard had only two weeks to get the car ready for Wild West after STPR, so he literally prepared the car during the tow across the country from Wellsboro to Shelton. "Once again, Lincoln gave us a well prepared car to race," praised Russell. "His prep work has been exceptional this year," added Dillon. "Lincoln leaves no bolt unchecked so we have the confidence to simply get in the car and rally to the limit," he added.

Flat tires impacted the team's results at both events. At Wild West, it took almost ten minutes to affect a change, thanks in part to a recalcitrant jack that refused to un-jam, the spare tire tie-down that wouldn't untie, a punctured tire did not want to come off and a spare that didn't want to go on! "This was truly a nightmare," said Russell. "The time we lost here cost us our chance at our first top ten spot overall."

While the team had planned to traverse the continent in time for the Rallye Baie Des Chaleurs (July 2nd), the car took a bit of pounding at Wild West which will keep it out of action until the end of July, when the Shadow returns to competition at the Maine Summer Rally in Rumford, Maine.

Widget Home Page

Team News

Photo Gallery

Team Calendar and Results

Meet the Team

Meet Our Sponsors

Links

Contact Us